Chagall's "Abraham with the Three Angels"

I made my first trip to Europe the summer after my first year in college. I was accompanied by my parents, sister, two cousins, two aunts, and one uncle. We stayed with some relatives in Italy for several weeks, and then we journeyed north to France. One day, we happened to be in Nice, and my family wanted to spend time near the beach. However, I wanted to get out and enjoy the city, so I left my family for a few hours and made the trek to the Chagall Museum. (I also visited the Matisse Museum.) It was a wonderful day, and I still remember it quite well. At any rate, I had never really been a fan of Chagall, but that changed once I visited the museum. I wasn't a Christian at the time, but I was highly impressed by Chagall's Old Testament paintings. Chagall brings his subjects to life. It was almost as if Chagall had known them personally, and that they had agreed to have their portraits done by this modern artist. I was particularly struck by his paintings of Moses and King David. These men seemed holy and good to me. Unfortunately, I wouldn't pick up a Bible to read about them for several more years, but that is a story for another time.

I still think about Chagall from time to time, and I recently discovered a painting by him that I would like to share. It depicts Abraham's meeting with the three angels in Genesis 18. Chagall made several paintings of this scene, but this one is my favorite:

I love this painting. It captures the beauty, peacefulness, and nobility of the angels. It also captures their power, holiness, and otherworldliness. One gets some sense of the wonder of the scene. But that is not all. The painting captures the hospitality and the humility of Abraham and Sarah. They are good hosts, and they are eager to serve their mysterious guests, even though they may be a bit nervous about what their appearance might portend. This brings me to the moods of the subjects. Abraham seems anxious, and the angels seem to be engaged in serious conversation. Sarah's mood is hard to gauge, but she may be anxious herself. Of course, Abraham and Sarah had nothing to worry about - the angels were about to announce to them that they would soon have a child. Nonetheless, he seems nervous, and she may be nervous too. Perhaps this is because they cannot hear or understand the conversation that is transpiring among their guests. At any rate, none of the subjects seems to be in a positive mood. This makes an interesting contrast with the majesty and beauty of the scene.

In the past, I never gave much thought to the story of Abraham meeting the three angels when I read Genesis. It seemed like a minor event to me. After all, God had already promised Abraham and Sarah a child. However, Chagall has made me rethink my attitude, I will definitely pay more attention to this story in the future. One great thing about Chagall's paintings is that they remind us that God acts on every page of Scripture, and that every one of God's acts is wondrous and good. The same is true of life today - God is always active, even in the remotest corners of the world, and every one of His actions is wondrous and good.